Labyrinth of Time

Background information

Type

Region

Affiliation(s)

Areas

Residents

Gameplay details

Items

Enemies

Quests

Completing puzzles on each floor

Defeating Chronodia

The Labyrinth of Time is a bonus dungeon in the 20th Anniversary and following versions of the original Final Fantasy. It consists of various floors, each one containing puzzles that must be solved on time for the player to proceed. If the player fails to solve the puzzle in time, a dense fog will invade the area, sapping the party's HP and increasing the encounter rate, and the player will unlock the red seal of the floor when completing the puzzle, which is a sign of failure. Completing a floor will allow the player to unlock its blue seal; either way, a passage to the next floor becomes available. Stages are chosen at random on each playthrough.

If the player reaches the deepest floor they will face Chronodia, Master of Time, a superboss. Chronodia's strength depends on the number of blue and red seals unlocked by the player. The more red seals unlocked, the weaker Chronodia will be, and the more blue seals unlocked, the stronger Chronodia will be.

This dungeon is located in the Chaos Shrine and can be visited when the player defeats all four Fiends for the first time. The player must visit Cornelia first and speak to the mysterious man in the center of the town. Then, the party should head for the Shrine, where they will observe the man entering a hidden room that serves as the entrance to the Labyrinth.

Contents

Before entering each floor, the player meets the Light of Time, who allows the player to trade abilities for time. The maximum number of abilities to surrender (and their nature) depends on the floor to be entered. After the transaction is done, the player will enter the floor, which contains a puzzle. The black-caped man may randomly appear as the player enters the area, and offer a random service, such as giving items, giving more time, or even allowing the player to leave the dungeon. After that, it is compulsory to solve the puzzle before proceeding deeper in the Labyrinth. Most of the puzzle areas are devoid of enemy encounters.

In the Labyrinth of Time, the floors (and their order) are randomized, although the first is always taken from a set of floors called the Modern Maze. Usually, they are the easiest puzzles and the random encounters should pose no threat.

Fairies' Frolic (1 ability sacrifice): A single fairy will do some dance steps (facing different directions, always repeats the same pattern). She leaves, and returns with four other fairies. The player has to find the first fairy.

To reach the room, follow this route at each fork in the road:

Southwest

East

From the room, follow this route to the seals:

East

North

Fairies' Farce (1 ability sacrifice): This puzzle is one of logic. There are nine chests arranged in a square pattern. One of them opens the way. The others reset the puzzle (and halve the remaining time). Seven fairies give hints as to which chest is the good one, but one of them lies. It is up to the player to solve the puzzle.

To reach the room, follow this route at each fork in the road:

Northwest

From the room, follow this route to the seals:

South

Southeast

Neat and Tidy (7 ability sacrifices): The player has to push eight blocks into eight pits. Automatons roam the area and will destroy the blocks on contact.

The Guardian (1 ability sacrifice): The player has to find a treasure chest in a labyrinth inhabited by dragons. The dragons cannot be attacked. If the player comes within three steps of the dragons, they are brought back to the beginning of the labyrinth. There are three treasure chests, one of them containing the key to protect each fork in the road:

East

East

East

From the room, follow this route to the seals:

South

South

West

West

West

West

Labyrinth of Darkness (2 ability sacrifices): The player must find a treasure chest in a dark labyrinth. Lighting candles along the way can help.

To reach the room, follow this route at each fork in the road:

East

From the room, follow this route to the seals:

North (from maze exit)

West

The Bat Cave (7 ability sacrifices): The player must count the bats in the area, the number of moving bats, and the number of still bats, and then tell one of those numbers to the black-caped man awaiting at the far end. The bats are moving among each other, which makes the counting harder.

Starting here, the player might have a harder time getting through. The puzzles are harder, possibly longer, and usually require several abilities to be traded for time. As such, they make the random encounters (with usually powerful enemies) dangerous.

Note for Note (4 ability sacrifices): The player has to repeat three melodies the black-caped man will have played before.

This is a powered up version of Original Chaos. The first floor of the Netherworld Crypt (the Inner Sanctum) allows the player to fully recover HP, MP and status ailments, and to leave the Labyrinth of Time. This is the only time (except for the black-caped man who might give the opportunity) the player can leave. Otherwise, Chronodia has to be defeated to avoid getting a Game Over. In the iOS version, closing the app after reaching the Inner Sanctum (while still in the Labyrinth of Time), will have the player brought back to the Inner Sanctum upon selecting 'Resume' when they next open the app.

Step by Step: The player has to cross a room full of robots. The robots do one step as the player does one. Touching a robot causes the player to enter a fight with a Warmech. While dangerous, they yield a lot of Experience, and no penalty is suffered from fighting them. Thus, if the player is strong enough to defeat them, they can easily go up several levels in a few minutes. Considering that, at this point, the only way to exit the Labyrinth of Time alive is to defeat Chronodia, it might be a good idea to do so, as the additional levels will help for that difficult battle.

Fairies Frolic: A single fairy will do some dance steps (facing different directions, always repeats the same pattern). She leaves and returns with four other fairies. The player has to find the first fairy.

Buying Flowers: First, several people will walk in a line to an area beyond, with several other people. The people who in the line are flower-sellers. The others will attack if talked to. The player has a bag of random amount of gil. They will have to find the flower sellers and buy flowers to exactly deplete the gil. It is possible to buy once from each flower-seller.

Twin Statues: Four pairs of statues have to be put face to face.

Trick Statues: Three pairs of statues have to be put face to face. Each pair represents a monster roaming the area. When the statues face each other, those monsters will disappear. If the player touches a monster, they will battle. The monster will then reappear somewhere else. The monsters do one step (in any direction) as the player does one step.

Scavenger Hunt: In a big room, the player will first be given a hint, such as The key lies 11 feet away and will have to dig it up. If the first try isn't successful, another similar hint will be given.

Robots And Buttons: The random encounters make this puzzle difficult.

Labyrinth of Darkness: The player will be asked to find a treasure chest in a dark labyrinth. Lighting candles along the way can help.

Lightning Rods and Candles: The player has to find the exit of a dark maze. Lighting candles along the way can help. Automatons roam the area and must not be touched. Thunder sounds and a lightning bolt will soon strike. The player has to be near a lightning rod to avoid being brought back at the beginning of the maze.

Marching Orders: The player has to get in a line of soldiers. The commanding officer will put his soldiers to test, to march forward, stopping once in a while. The player has to march in time. The difficulty lies in that the officer gives no hint when he stops walking. One will need to cross the parade square twice: once to the right and once to the left.

March of Souls: First, several people will walk in a line. The player is asked three questions, such as "Who was the last in line?". If a mistake is made, the line will pass again, with the same or different people, and the player will be asked different questions.

Slay or be Slain: A room has several dragons whose sprites can have four, two or no horns, short or long tails, and short or long wings. In battle, all are Red Dragons. The player is asked to defeat a random number of a dragon type (on twelve possibilities). Second, to defeat random numbers of two types of dragons, then random numbers of three types of dragons. The number and types will only be said once.